PEORIA — A mixture of sleet and freezing rain caused havoc across area roadways Saturday as drivers slipped, skidded and crashed their way to shopping and other holiday activities.

By 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Peoria police had responded to 15 ice-related accidents, six of which resulted in injury.

Two accidents on the eastbound lane of the McClugage Bridge about 2:20 p.m. caused lane closures for almost an hour and backed up traffic, according to the Peoria police. Two people sustained injuries that were not believed to be serious and were taken to the hospital by ambulance. The lanes were opened again at 3:15 p.m., and traffic returned to normal about 10 minutes later.

Thirty minutes after that, police were sent to the ramp on Interstate 74 that leads to War Memorial Drive for a crash involving at least four cars crash that produced minor injuries. Both the on- and off-ramps that connect I-74 and War Memorial Drive were closed for additional salting before they were reopened.

Roads from Springfield to Quincy and all the way up a narrow corridor to DeKalb and Rockford, had patches of ice and snow according to Illinois Department of Transportation.

Peoria city street crews started salting city streets about 6 a.m. Saturday and continued working throughout the day and night.

Chuck Schaffer, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said the the conditions were just right for ice-making weather event.